Card Burial
by RandyPandy
Summary: On a normal day at the Game Shop, a group of thieves decides to rob the Muto family. However, 'Yugi' won't let that stand. -Pre-Anime-


AN: Testing the waters in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom here, since it's been awhile since I wrote my last fic for Yu-Gi-Oh. Read and enjoy!**  
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_**-Card Burial-**_

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It was a normal day at the Game Shop.

Though Yugi and his mother were helping Solomon, the real owner of the Game Shop, Yugi kept getting distracted by the new booster packs that they had received. Since there were no customers in the shop, Yugi had picked up one of the packs and was talking to his grandfather and mother excitedly.

"Just think of all the new strategies that I could come up with if I had some of the cards that came in this set!" the boy beamed. "Some people think that's it's useless, but I don't think so! There's lots of good cards in there!"

"That's right, Yugi," Mrs. Muto said patiently, letting him talk. Most of the talk of Duel Monsters went right over the woman's head, and she didn't really understand the game at all. She had, after all, attacked Solomon's Blue Eyes White Dragon with a Kuriboh once, and couldn't grasp why that shouldn't work.

"Once the day is over, maybe you can take a few of the packs yourself!" Solomon said, beaming as he sat behind the counter.

"Dad!" Mrs. Muto said, staring at her father-in-law with a bit of a scandalized expression. "Are you encouraging him?"

"Well, why not? It's a game, and a fun one at that," Solomon said, beaming. "I might put a few cards from those booster packs into my deck at some point, too."

The sound of the door opening and the tinkle of bells indicated that someone had entered. Indeed, as the three Mutos looked up at the door, a group of three men in their early twenties walked in.

"Welcome!" all three of them said, with Mrs. Muto asking them pleasantly. "Are you looking to buy?"

"Yeah..." One of the men, with red hair and sunglasses, said. "We're here to get some of these new booster packs."

With that, the men looked over the merchandise available, while the three Mutos went back to their conversation. "Anyways, Grandpa, I'd love to keep a few of the packs-"

Yugi cut himself off as he suddenly found himself on the business end of a gun, courtesy of the red-haired man. Mrs. Muto and Grandpa gasped.

"Get your hands up. You, old man, empty the cash register. Woman, get us some bags to put a lot of this stuff in. Shrimp... that necklace of yours looks like it's worth something. Hand it over, now!"

"N-No! I can't!" Yugi placed one hand on the Millenium Puzzle around his neck. It was his treasure of eight years, and he'd only recently solved it! He was sure that it had allowed his wish for friends to come true. Anzu had always been his friend, but after solving it, Jonouchi and Honda had proved to be true friends, as well... despite the fact that he'd started having black-outs since solving it, he couldn't give it up!

"I don't think you're in any position to argue, shrimp. Hand it over, now, or you're getting a bullet through the hole," the thief growled.

"Yugi... just hand it over," Mrs. Muto said quietly as she handed over the bags. "It's not worth your life."

But to Yugi... there was definitely something worth it about the Puzzle. Worth his life? He was sure about that - that there was something about the Puzzle that he couldn't hand over to a crook. Mutely, he shook his head, causing the thief that was holding the gun to growl.

"You asked for it." With that, he pointed the gun straight at Yugi and fired.

Mrs. Muto screamed, sure that her son was now wounded. Solomon placed a hand on his heart after he finished emptying the cash register, staring at his grandson in horror. But there was a tinkle of gold, a flash of light, and Yugi stood there, unharmed. However, he looked different, and the eye on his Millenium Puzzle was glowing.

"Yugi...?" Mrs. Muto said quietly, staring at her son.

"That was close. Thankfully, the bullet hit the Puzzle instead. You would not have been given a chance to be spared otherwise," Yugi said. However, there was a noticeable change. Yugi seemed to have gained a few inches of height and carried himself with much more confidence. The bang of yellow that flopped lazily in his face was gone, and there were now yellow spikes of hair standing up with the red and black ones. The most startling change of all were his eyes - instead of being wide-eyed and purple as normal, they were narrowed and crimson.

"What the hell? You bipolar or something, shrimp?" the thief snarled.

Yugi, however, didn't answer. "You... you trespassed on the souls of not only the cards in this shop, but of Mom and Grandpa as well. I challenge you to a game. But it will be no ordinary game. It will be a Game of Darkness."

"Game of... Darkness...?" Solomon looked a little pale as he heard that. No, it couldn't possibly be... that was supposed to be just a myth! And Yugi had seemed completely confused when he had mentioned it to him before - the boy had interpreted that to mean that his wishes would be granted! Mrs. Muto looked over at her father-in-law.

"Dad? What's he doing...?" She turned back to where Yugi had put his hands in his pockets and had taken a pose much more like that Jonouchi or Honda, but with much more grace and confidence. If she hadn't seen this happen, she would never believe that this boy was her Yugi, her sweet son.

"Boss, we got all the cash and most of the cards. Let's split!" The other two thieves ran up to the red-haired one that had been threatening Yugi.

"Nah," the thief grinned. "I want to know what the stakes are, first!"

Yugi let out a dark smile at that. "If you win, I'll let you walk out of the shop with anything you wanted - the cash, the cards, and even this since you showed interest." He held up the Millenium Puzzle. "But if you lose, you'll have to play a... Penalty Game."

"Heh! I, Mugen, will play this silly game of yours! You'd better be prepared to hand that hunk of gold over - it'll fetch a nice price at some shop," the thief grinned.

"Yugi... are you sure about this?" Mrs. Muto asked fearfully. She didn't know what on Earth her son was talking about with 'Penalty' Games and such, but it didn't sound all that fun.

"Penalty Game..." Solomon mused, keeping an eye on everyone present. Yugi had shown ignorance when questioned about Games of Darkness and Penalty Games, but maybe it had all been a facade that the other hadn't wanted to reveal. However, that was unlikely. Yugi normally wasn't one to keep secrets that dangerous; besides, the boy normally wouldn't hurt a fly!

The other, more likely explanation, was that this wasn't Yugi at all, but the Millenium Puzzle acting on its own accord and simply borrowing Yugi's body to talk to the thief. Perhaps the stories were true? The thought scared Solomon.

"Fine then. The game we'll play uses the booster packs that you lot stuffed into that bag. Get them out," Yugi said almost lazily.

"Do it!" Mugen said to his cronies, who dumped the numerous booster packs out.

"Mom... can you two get us a few Dueling Mats, please?" Yugi said. His voice was still deep, but there was nothing but gentleness and politeness as he spoke to her. Mrs. Muto smiled a bit shakily at him, but retrieved a pair of Dueling Mats.

"The rules of the game are simple. We each pick four Booster packs from the pile, giving us a total of thirty-six cards each. From the thirty-six cards, we each select two Monster Cards to battle our opponent with. It doesn't matter whether they are Normal Monsters, Effect Monsters, Fusion Monsters, or Ritual Monsters. You're also allowed to select up to two Magic Cards. We cannot use Trap Cards. The only restriction on both Monster and Magic Cards is that we cannot destroy each other's Monsters. The cards will be placed on these Dueling Mats in their proper places face-down. Once we have both decided, we'll flip them face up, apply any effects, and add up the Attack Values. Whoever has the highest Attack Values will win, while the loser plays the Penalty Game. Oh, and no one else is allowed to help. That means, Mom, Grandpa, and your little cronies. Got it?" Yugi said, smirking.

"The game doesn't sound all that bad..." Mrs. Muto murmured. It seemed like just a harmless card game. It wasn't that bad at all. It was the Penalty Game that had her worried.

"Yugi seems to know what he's doing, but..." Grandpa looked at them.

"Heh, better be prepared to play that 'Penalty' Game of yours, shrimp," Mugen smirked.

Yugi merely shrugged. "Game Start! You can grab your booster packs first."

While the others watched, Mugen fished through the booster packs, quickly selecting four of them. "I've got my booster packs!"

"Alright then." Yugi knelt down, sitting on one knee, and started picking up booster packs. He would study some for awhile, and then put them down, but keep others. Finally, he had picked four of them up. "I've got my four booster packs as well. Let's open them."

Both parties tore their packs open, Mugen grinning when he saw some of the cards that he had received. These were some really good ones! It would be hard to pick just two, but... ah. Yes, he would pick those two Monsters. They had great Attack... and Magic Cards. Those two looked pretty nice and useful. They would be perfect.

Once he picked his cards, he glanced over at Yugi. The other was holding a few cards, looking bored, as if Mugen was taking a long time.

"Tch. I'll wipe that smirk off your face..." he murmured in a low voice, before declaring, "I've selected my cards!"

"I've picked mine, too." Yugi flashed another kind smile at his family, before walking over to his Dueling Mat. Mugen rolled his eyes at his friends, sure that he had this in the bag, and went over to the Dueling Mat to place his cards down.

Mugen set his Monsters face-down on the Monster Zone, and his two Magic Cards in the Magic/Trap Zone. He raised his eyebrows as Yugi set down his two Monsters, one card in the Magic/Trap Zone, and one card in the Field Zone.

"That's perfectly legal; Field Cards fall under the category of Magic Cards," Yugi said quite calmly.

"Guess you couldn't find anything without resorting to that stuff," Mugen smirked. "Now let's finish this already!"

"Alright then."

Mugen flipped his four cards over. "Hah, beat this! St. Joan, who has 2800 ATK, and Hyozanryu, who's got 2100 ATK." To his surprise, though, two miniature versions of the monsters appeared on the Dueling Mat. "What!"

"D-Dad! Those monsters are real!" Mrs. Muto yelped, looking really nervous.

"My word...!"

"This is a Game of Darkness," Yugi said quite calmly. "The monsters we pick will appear on our side of the field. Now, are you done or are you revealing those Magic Cards?"

"Hmph... I've had enough of your magic tricks. I've got United We Stand, whom I equip on Hyozanryu! Since I have two Monsters face-up, he gets another 1600 ATK! Finally, I've got Silver Bow and Arrow, equipped on St. Joan, who gets another 300 ATK! Now. Get through my 6800 ATK force!"

St. Joan held the bow and arrow quite calmly, while Hyozanryu glowed with energy from being together with St. Joan and roared.

"6800 ATK... that's quite a bit for two Monsters and two Magic Cards," Solomon said, frowning.

"Yugi..." murmured Mrs. Muto, getting a bit concerned for her son now.

Yugi just shrugged. "My turn, then." The young man flipped over his monsters first. "First, I Have Dark Magician with 2500 ATK, and Kuriboh with 300 ATK." The purple magician appeared, looking quite intimidating, along with a small, harlmess looking brown furball.

"Kuriboh?" Mugen bust out laughing at that. "Hey, guys! Look! He's using Kuriboh of all cards! I already have this won!"

"Don't laugh yet," Yugi said coldly. Even the Kuriboh seemed a bit agitated at the insults to it, but the Dark Magician seemed amused. "I'm not done."

"Right... hurry up kid, so that my buddies and I can leave," Mugen said, still sniggering with the other two thieves.

"First, I'll activate Multiply! This only works if there's a Kuriboh present. For each empty Monster and Magic/Trap Zone, I can summon a Kuriboh Token!"

"Wh-What...?" Mugen stared.

"Of course!" Solomon realized. "Tokens have all the benefits of Monsters, outside of not being allowed for some Tributes and not being counted as Monsters!"

"Since I have three Monster Zones and four Magic/Trap Zones, I can summon seven Kuriboh Tokens!" And indeed, a bunch of cooing brown furballs occupied the spaces, making one Dark Magician and eight Kuribohs total.

"Yeah well... that's still not enough!" Mugen growled. "Those monsters only equal 4900, much less than my 6800."

"I'm not done yet - I still have my Field Card," Yugi grinned. Mugen went a bit pale as Yugi flipped the card over. "Yami!"

St. Joan and Hyozanryu looked up nervously as a fog of darkness enveloped the field, while Dark Magician and Kuribohs seemed quite happy.

"Each Fiend and Spellcaster Monster on the field gains 200 ATK, and unless I'm mistaken, Dark Magician is Spellcaster and the Kuribohs are all Fiend. That brings their ATK total to 6700!"

"It can't be..." Mugen seemed to be getting paler, before he noticed something. "Wha- What's happening to St. Joan?" Indeed, while Yugi's monsters relished in the dark energy and Hyozanryu seemed a little nervous, St. Joan seemed to be in pain from it.

"St. Joan is a Fairy monster. Yami not only powers up Fiends and Spellcasters, but also weakens Fairies by 200, bringing your ATK total down to 6600," Yugi explained.

"No way... he beat me by 100 ATK...?" Mugen didn't look happy at all as Dark Magician and the Kuribohs swarmed on St. Joan and Hyozanryu, destroying them with shrieks and explosions. Mugen gritted his teeth, and knocked the cards off of the dueling mat. "That doesn't matter! Did you seriously think that I was going to just walk off empty-handed? Stupid kid!"

"So you refuse to honor the deal." Mugen was about to shoot Yugi again, when he suddenly felt his arm freeze; he couldn't move.

"The gate of darkness has been opened..." Yugi murmured.

"Wh-What the hell is with that eye...?" Mugen stared as the eye from the Millenium Puzzle appeared on Yugi's forehead, glowing. Even his eyes looked terrifyingly inhuman as he stretched his right hand out.

"_**PENALTY GAME! CARD BURIAL****!**_" The real world seemed to invert for a moment, before something shattered; what, Mrs. Muto and Solomon couldn't see, for they had closed their eyes.

For a moment, everything was quiet. Then a scream came.

"Aaah! There's cards everywhere! Help! They're burying me!" Mugen shrieked.

Mrs. Muto finally opened her eyes, letting out a gasp. The thief that had challenged her son was cowering on the floor, desperately clawing at nothing. The gun lay forgotten, which was accidentally kicked underneath a card display in Mugen's panic.

"Mugen!" Another one of the thieves yelled, grabbing the other's arm. "There's nothing there!"

Mugen, however, grabbed his cronie and clawed at him. "Get me out of here! I'm being buried!"

The thief that Mugen was clutching at dragged the other out of the shop, looking terrified. The third thief, however, stared at Yugi with a look of pure terror. "What the hell are you? You can't be human!" He too fled.

Yugi just sighed, and turned back to Mrs. Muto and Solomon. They cringed a bit, Mrs. Muto ducking behind Solomon, but Yugi gave them a kind smile.

"Don't worry, Mom, Grandpa. I won't hurt you."

"Yugi..." Solomon whispered. "The Puzzle is said to have powers of darkness... and you were using them!" Nothing else could explain what had happened; the change in appearance and voice, the illusions of the Duel Monsters, the sudden insanity that the thief had. Now that Solomon thought about it, hadn't that Trudge boy that had been harassing Yugi end up in the hospital...?

"Actually, I was wondering whether I could ask a favor of you two," Yugi said. The coldness in his voice was gone. In fact, it sounded much warmer when he addressed them than when he had addressed the thieves.

"Y-Yes...?" Mrs. Muto let out, clearly looking scared.

"Please don't tell Yugi about this."

For a moment, the two of them stared at him, before it clicked in Solomon's mind. "Wait. You're not Yugi?" His eyes widened.

"Who are you...?" Mrs. Muto whispered.

"Well, I go by the name Yugi now, since that's his name," not-Yugi said, shrugging. "But as for who I am... I don't know much, myself. All I know is that I came from the Millenium Puzzle with my own set of natural abilities, and that all I want to do right now is keep Yugi safe and happy."

"So you're a spirit that lives inside the Millenium Puzzle?" Solomon asked. "I never thought that such a thing was possible. Is that what you really look like, or is it because you're in my grandson's body?"

"I have no idea. I think I have some of my original appearance, but Yugi's appearance influenced a few things." The Millenium Puzzle's spirit looked down bemusedly at himself. "I'm sure I wasn't this short."

Slowly, Mrs. Muto approached not-Yugi, before placing her hands on his shoulders. "But... what you just did..." She trailed off. Whoever this person was, he had done it just to keep herself, Yugi, and Solomon safe. He meant them no harm.

"Oh, I'll give Yugi his body back in a bit. I never stay out long, only when he or his loved ones are in danger. Those thieves were lucky they got away with just that," the spirit said casually, but didn't elaborate what he meant by that. "I promise you, Mom, Grandpa - I mean you two no harm."

Mrs. Muto started a bit as he called her 'Mom'. It made sense, that this boy, sharing Yugi's body, started addressing them by the names that Yugi called them. She embraced the spirit gently, before looking back down at him. Solomon, meanwhile, looked very thoughtful.

"I wonder..." Both Mrs. Muto and not-Yugi looked over at him, blinking, but Solomon just chuckled. "Never mind!"

"Right... I'll be going now." And with a small flash of the Puzzle, Yugi was suddenly much shorter, the blond spikes gone from his hair, and his eyes were wide and purple and very confused.

"Huh? Mom? You're hugging me?" He blinked and looked around. "The thieves! Where'd they go! Are you guys hurt?" He seemed worried and nervous, completely unaware of the events that happened.

Grandpa took a deep breath, and nodded. "We're fine. They seemed to remember they had something to do, and dropped the cards. One of them dropped the money and didn't bother to retrieve it."

"Yeah, that's right," Mrs. Muto gave a shaky smile. "That's what happened." She ran her hand through his hair. "I'm glad your safe, dear."

"Yes, why don't we clean up now, and close up?" Solomon suggested.

That day ended without anything else strange happening, but it was something that Mrs. Muto and Solomon would never forget.

After Yugi came back from the Duelist Kingdom tournament, she would catch him talking to himself occasionally - though it sounded like he was talking to another person. Sometimes she even caught them arguing! Solomon too would share stories with her about Yugi and 'Yami' as the spirit of the Millenium Puzzle eventually dubbed himself.

Perhaps one day, they would all be together under better circumstances.

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_**-Card Burial End-**_

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**Cards Used in Story:**

Dark Magician  
Dark-Type  
Level 7  
[Spellcaster/Normal]  
The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense.  
ATK/2500 | DEF/2100

Kuriboh  
Dark-Type  
Level 1  
[Fiend/Effect]  
During your opponent's Battle Phase, you can discard this card to reduce the Battle Damage you take from 1 of your opponent's attacking monsters to 0.  
ATK/300 | DEF/200

St. Joan  
Light-Type  
Level 7  
[Fairy/Fusion]  
"The Forgiving Maiden + "Marie the Fallen One"  
ATK/2800 | DEF/2000

Hyozanryu  
Light-Type  
Level 7  
[Dragon/Normal]  
A dragon created from a massive diamond that sparkles with blinding light.  
ATK/2100 | DEF/2800

Multiply  
Quick-Play Magic  
Tribute 1 face-up "Kuriboh". Special Summon as many "Kuriboh Token" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK 300/DEF 200) as possible in Defense Position. These Tokens cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon.

Yami  
Field Magic  
Increase the ATK and DEF of all Fiend and Spellcaster-Type monsters by 200 points. Decrease the ATK and DEF of all Fairy-Type monsters by 200 points.

United We Stand  
Equip Magic  
The equipped Monster gains 800 ATK and DEF for each face-up monster you control.

Silver Bow and Arrow  
Equip Magic  
A Fairy-Type monster equipped with this card increases its ATK and DEF by 300 points.

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**AN:** That's the end of it! I had a lot of fun writing this. Coming up with the Game of Darkness, the Penalty Game, and a name for this OC thief (who I eventually just called Mugen for no real reason) actually took much longer than writing the fanfic itself. As for the cards used, all are official cards, but I bent the rules a bit with Multiply, and actually have no idea if United We Stand was released that early; but then again, I don't think it matters and the anime bent the rules all the time in the early episodes.

Read and review, please!


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